December 31

1862—This day has become known as “Watch Night”—the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation going into effect and nominally freeing slaves in the Confederacy. Thousands of free Blacks gathered in various locations throughout the nation to “watch” for midnight when the Emancipation of slaves became the law of the land. A focal point for celebration was the home of abolitionist Frederick Douglas in Rochester, N.Y.

TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE

NEW YORK (AP)—The bubbly, the ball, the midnight kiss. Not all single ladies want a ring on it, but do they want a date for New Year’s Eve?

Yes, it's almost here, that milestone of love and romance. This year, the holiday has its own movie (of the same name) filled with intertwining couples and a cast dripping with Zac Efron, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry and oh so many more of Hollywood's sexiest.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR—Fireworks erupt to signal the New Year, 2011, in Times Square. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jones' spokeswoman Barbara Drummond says the mayor went to a grocery store Tuesday evening and returned to find his nativity scene was lit up, his truck had been tampered with and his garage door had been opened.

MAYOR SAM JONES

December 24

1881—The Edgefield Exodus begins. More than 5,000 Blacks, driven in part by a wave of White violence and economic exploitation, begin leaving Edgefield County, S.C., and resettled in Arkansas. The movement was also encouraged by people like Pap Singleton who believed Southern Blacks could enjoy a better life if they moved to the Midwest. It is also believed that some Whites also encouraged the exodus in a bid to reduce South Carolina’s Black population, which was a majority in the state in the 1870s and 1880s.

JIM CROW RAILROAD CAR STATUE